Finding Good Affiliate Niches

Numbers and Ideas Easy to Access

CJ EPCs - view the full advertiser list and sort by EPC, search from the top down and don't be afraid to sort different ways and dig around. Use your head when looking at this data. (Hint, watch for big differences in 7 day EPC vs. 3 month EPC)
Remember EPC is figured as earnings per click x 100, so $138 EPC is earning the affiliates an average of $1.38 per click.

Overture Bids - high bids = high paying niches (usually)

New stuff in Yahoo, tip from eljefe3. Affiliates may be doing well enough to buy a yahoo listing.

How competitive is this niche?

Number of pages in the SE on specific phrases. (Do some keyword research first)

Overall bid prices at overture. ($3 for the top 3 spots could just be some er, challenged bidders. Look at the full range from positions 1 through 10, 20 or 30.)

Top 10, 20 and 30 PRs on Google

Backtrack the competition.

For some reason, many affiliates like to link everything they do, to everything else they do. So, you can often see lucrative stuff being linked to other lucrative stuff. Ummm, don't do this with your own stuff for various reasons. This is one of them.

Use your head.

Electronics - Highly competitive industry with low margins. Sales are usually bigger ticket items not purchased often. (Small commission on a purchase that is researched quite a bit before a buy is finally made.)

Consumables - they are consumed (rocket science, eh?) and must be purchased again. Look for programs with recurring/residual commissions here.